A Revival Resource Center
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Articles and
Messages by T. Austin Sparks
We wish to consider the matter of mentality
in relation to our great spiritual warfare. The marginal alternative
to "casting down imaginations" is "casting down reasonings"
and William Barclay renders this "destroying plausible fallacies".
In any warfare there are perils and threats to victory where there is
a wrong mentality. On the other hand, the warrior has a tremendous advantage
when he is of a right mentality. What are the plausible fallacies which
must be destroyed if we are to share in Christ’s victory?
The Bible opens with the
tree of life, and it closes with the tree of life, and that is the great
issue from beginning to end. From one angle, as we were saying earlier,
the Bible is all about this issue of life as over against death.
We find, therefore, as
in the case of the other two things - enlargement and establishment
- that God has left us in no doubt whatever as to His mind on the matter.
He has made it perfectly clear that His thought is life, and life in
fullness. So much so that the Lord Jesus, in His coming into this world,
reaching with one hand right back to the beginning, and with the other
hand right on to the ages of the ages yet to be, declares that He is
in that position on one ground and with one purpose: "I am come
that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (John 10:10).
We have so far spoken in a very general
way about these matters related to faith - what God is seeking in enlargement,
establishment and life. We will now go a step further, and see these
things being worked out in the life and experience of His people, individually
and collectively, bringing these truths into practical application and
relationship to life. We shall therefore return first of all to the
very practical outworking of truth in the life of Abraham. Abraham’s
life can be gathered up into four things: faith in relation to God’s
purpose, faith in relation to God’s principle, faith in relation to
God’s patience, and faith in relation to God’s passion. That comprehensive
statement covers the whole course and meaning of his life.
"Thy sons shall come
from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms" (4b);
"…the ships of Tarshish… to bring thy sons from far" (9a);
and so on. They are all coming, they are all coming. Why? Because you
have got something to give, you have got the light which answers to
their problems and their questions and their difficulties. As the light
attracts the moth, so need is attracted to where there is supply. Out
of these experiences of death and darkness, leading to resurrection,
comes something that others want. And it is like that, if it is after
that order, they come for it - yes, from the ends of the earth. Not
just for teaching, for interpretations, for doctrines, but for real,
living light born out of experience, the experience of resurrection,
again and again.
I do not believe that it
is necessary to have tremendous attractions of other kinds to get people
together for spiritual purposes. I believe that, if there is real vital
light, they will come, they will find their way to it. The answer to
empty churches is not entertainments and attractions, but living light.
That can be proved. Would there were more light—then there might be
a drawing.
I am quite sure that many
of you will immediately discern that is just the flaw in a very great
deal of popular Christianity today – a kind of objective imitation of
Jesus which gets nowhere, rather than the subjective learning Jesus
which gets everywhere.
So for this little while
we are to be occupied with the School of Christ, into which school He
brought the twelve, whom He chose "that they might be with him
and that he might send them forth" (Mark 3:14). They were first
of all called disciples, which simply means they came under discipline.
Before ever we can be apostles, that is, sent ones, we have to come
under discipline, to be disciples, to be taught ones, and that in an
inward way. It is into this school that every one who is born from above
is brought, and it is very important that we should know the nature
of it, what it is that we are going to learn, and the principles of
our spiritual education.
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